Environment ministers of Finland and Sweden have urged Norway to retract its decision to raise whaling quota for this year, a statement from the Finnish government said Friday June 2.

Norway has authorised its whalers to harpoon 1,052 minke whales in 2006, up from 796 in 2005.

In a letter addressed to Norwegian Fisheries Minister Helga Pedersen, the Finnish and Swedish environment ministers, Jan-Erik Enestam and Lena Sommestad, said the quota increase for 2006 was " very regrettable" and called on Norway authorities not to implement the new quota. Norway's annual quota increase could hurt chances of finding a solution to an international dispute over its whale hunt practice, they added.

Norway is a member of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) but refused to sign a almost 20-year-old international ban. Instead the country argues that its minke whale hunt does not threaten stocks of the species.

Source: Xinhua